Noon slipped by in a blink.
The crystal sky shed its blue-white glow without restraint, yet it held none of the warmth sunlight should have.
Bell rested with his head on a girl's lap, savoring the soft, warm comfort beneath him.
"Are you okay...?"
A voice clear as silver chimes brushed his ears, and Bell slowly opened his eyes.
His gaze moved past the lovely, delicate face above him and drifted toward the distant sky.
He couldn't help wondering how things had ended up like this.
...
The waiting felt endless. The battle was long over, yet its echoes still lingered in everyone's mind. On the Eighteenth Floor, aside from admiring the scenery, there were few ways to truly relax. Even though it was a long-awaited break, hardly anyone could fully settle down.
"Please... please teach me Concurrent Chanting!"
Lefiya knew she was eating into their rest time, yet she clutched her wand tight and made her request to Riveria.
"Lefiya, I've told you before. Your spirit and your heart are still immature. You need meditation training first," Riveria replied.
"I... I know, but I can already control my magic sphere even when things are shaking."
Lefiya explained her progress.
"Shaking? Tell me exactly what happened." Riveria's interest rose slightly.
"Well... it's like this..."
Halting and embarrassed, Lefiya recounted her experience with the boy. Finn already knew about it, so it wasn't really a secret.
Riveria watched the elf girl's flushed face, listened quietly to the whole story, and couldn't help smiling.
"An unexpected method of fighting. That is very much Bell Cranel. But the real question is: do you have the resolve to face monsters head-on the way he does?"
"Of course!"
Lefiya answered without hesitation.
Whenever she was alone, memories of the boy's actions would suddenly surface. It left her frustrated, and feeling she couldn't go on like that, she had taken the initiative to ask for training. Practicing would not only get rid of her wandering thoughts but also fulfill their promise to work hard together.
Most importantly, Lefiya refused to lose. She was a Level 3 Mage, far ahead of the boy—yet she felt he would catch up to her soon. Lefiya wanted to show her strength. She didn't want him to see her stuck in place.
Riveria gave her a silent look.
"Hmm... still seems a bit immature."
"Eh—?!"
Flustered, Lefiya deflated.
Riveria chuckled softly.
"Don't worry. It's actually quite charming. According to Loki, girls in this state are unbeatable. I'm curious to see how it develops. Lefiya, I'll train with you."
"O-Okay!"
Lefiya wasn't sure what the Familia God meant, but since she'd been granted permission, she answered immediately.
With the mage taking the lead, the Amazoness sisters soon caught the competitive spark.
"Tione, come with me. Let's get moving in the forest," Tiona said, rolling her shoulders excitedly.
"Oh, I was thinking the same thing. Just watch—I'll bring back ten times the ingredients we used for lunch."
Tione hefted a huge sack.
"I don't think we need that many..."
Before Finn could finish, the Amazoness sisters had already headed into the forest.
Gareth pulled out a whetstone and began adjusting his weapon's edge.
On an empty stretch of grass, Ais stood facing Bell.
"What happened at the cliff's edge... I heard everything..."
She knew all too well the difference in their strength, yet he had stepped forward anyway, relying on nothing but bravado to save her.
It was practically heroic.
Ais looked at the white-haired boy before her and slowly voiced what she'd been holding in her heart.
"And at the plaza too... you saved me twice..."
She still had no idea what that thing was, but without him, she certainly wouldn't have escaped unharmed.
"Bell... thank you... I'll repay you one day..."
Ais chose the more intimate way of addressing him—partly out of habit, partly because she didn't want to treat him with unnecessary distance.
A gentle breeze swept by, lifting her golden hair as she spoke her final words.
"For the rest of my life... please take care of me..."
Bell looked at her doll-like beauty, and a faint sense of foreboding stirred within him at that line.
"Didn't Riveria-san say not to say things like that?"
"If it's Bell... I think it's fine."
Ais blinked, her golden eyes shining like jewels.
"Why?" Bell asked without thinking.
Unlike everyone else, this naturally airheaded girl was impossible to read.
Ais stayed where she was, letting the wind play with her hair.
"Because I... like Bell..."
"Pfft!"
Nearby, Finn sprayed the tea in his mouth all over the ground.
Gareth, who had been maintaining his weapons beside the tent, froze on the spot.
Lefiya, in the middle of her special training, didn't hear the words at all—yet somehow tripped and fell for no reason.
Loki, sitting on the ground, suddenly felt a chill run through her and shivered.
And Syr, praying for the boy elsewhere, sneezed without warning.
All of it happened in an instant.
Bell looked at the blonde girl in front of him and let out a small laugh.
How innocent could someone be?
He could feel that her "like" definitely wasn't romantic.
It was closer to simple goodwill—like when she'd said she liked potato balls. Probably the same kind of feeling.
Even so, hearing such words from a lovely girl with golden hair, golden eyes, and a graceful figure was enough to make anyone's heart race.
"I like Ais-san too."
Bell didn't hide his feelings at all.
There was no need to worry about her misunderstanding.
No lies. No hesitation.
He felt that this was the best way to speak with Ais.
Hearing the boy's straightforward reply, Ais's eyes moved slightly, her golden gaze quietly dropping to the grass beneath her feet.
"It seems... we're alike..."
"Mm."
Bell still couldn't quite figure out how Ais measured things.
She'd said something that embarrassing without a hint of emotion, yet now she seemed shy because of his answer.
"Let's practice swordsmanship... Bell..."
Ais pulled her gaze back and voiced her thoughts.
Sword practice?
Bell froze for a moment at the sudden shift.
He turned and glanced at Finn.
After receiving a nod, Bell responded immediately.
"Of course. Please guide me."
Training with the famed Sword Princess was something Bell couldn't have wished for more.
Even the smallest detail would be invaluable to someone like him, still at Level 1.
"I... look forward to it too..." Ais replied softly.
Wind rustled through the treetops.
The crystal sky cast a pale glow across the clearing, parting the shadows and illuminating the grass, as if pulling open the curtain to their little stage.
In the quiet breeze, their confessions settled into countless warm threads, weaving themselves into both their hearts.
Holding those shy, tender feelings close, the Sword Princess and the youth began their special training.
...
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